Mass Effect 3 shipped more than 3.5 million copies during its first week, but sold about 1.5 million units in March, according to Cowen and Company analyst Doug Creutz. In a message to investors Creutz noted that the March release window posed a difficult comparison, with March 2011 seeing the release of Pokemon Black/White, Homefront, and Dragon Age II.

Creutz, like Pachter, expects that software sales for March 2012 have dropped year-over-year, down 24 percent. He also believes April and May will see similar double-digit drops.